A wrongful conviction is when an innocent person is sent to jail for a crime they did not commit. There are numerous characteristics involved in wrongful convictions but the most consistent contributors are eyewitness error, police misconduct, mistaken identity, and race. An eyewitness can be a key contributor for law enforcement or they can be a detriment. A person who witnesses a dramatic event or a crime is often called upon by law enforcement personnel to testify in court as to what he/she witnessed. Their testimony can either confirm what the prosecution is presenting against the accused or their testimony can help the defense. The accuracy of their testimony is sometimes called into question, especially if a witness says they saw the
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Just as a police officer can "pressure" an eyewitness to say they saw something that they did not see, an eyewitness can also mistaken someones identity. Mistaken identity is used by a defense attorney which claims the actual innocence of their client by discrediting any eyewitness testimony. One of the most famous cases of mistaken identity is the case of Ronald Cotton. He served 10.5 years for raping Jennifer Thompson, but DNA testing proved that another man had raped her. Cotton and Thompson have reconciled and now work together in support of eyewitness testimony reform. The three previous contributors to wrongful convictions involved some kind of human factor which means race also has an impact on wrongful convictions. Stephen Saloom, The Innocence Project Policy Director, was quoted as saying, "When considering stereotypes and the disproportionate minority contact in the system, we have a greater propensity to think people of color may have done something". According to the Innocence Project website, of the 350 DNA exonerations in our country 41% of these cases were a cross-racial
Just as a police officer can "pressure" an eyewitness to say they saw something that they did not see, an eyewitness can also mistaken someones identity. Mistaken identity is used by a defense attorney which claims the actual innocence of their client by discrediting any eyewitness testimony. One of the most famous cases of mistaken identity is the case of Ronald Cotton. He served 10.5 years for raping Jennifer Thompson, but DNA testing proved that another man had raped her. Cotton and Thompson have reconciled and now work together in support of eyewitness testimony reform. The three previous contributors to wrongful convictions involved some kind of human factor which means race also has an impact on wrongful convictions. Stephen Saloom, The Innocence Project Policy Director, was quoted as saying, "When considering stereotypes and the disproportionate minority contact in the system, we have a greater propensity to think people of color may have done something". According to the Innocence Project website, of the 350 DNA exonerations in our country 41% of these cases were a cross-racial